OCZ Launches Agility 4 Series: Indilinx Everest 2 on a Budget
by Kristian Vättö on May 30, 2012 12:25 PM EST- Posted in
- Storage
- SSDs
- OCZ
- Indilinx Everest 2
- Agility 4
OCZ has now released their Agility 4 SSD series. Just like the move to Vertex 4 (our review) from Vertex 3, the Agility 4 uses OCZ's own Indilinx Everest 2 controller (the actual silicon is from Marvell) instead of SandForce. The differences between the Agility and Vertex series has not changed with the fourth generation: Vertex uses synchronous NAND whereas Agility uses asynchronous NAND. The Agility 4 uses a SATA 6Gb/s interface and comes in a 2.5" 9.5mm form factor. Below are the full specifications:
| OCZ Agility 4 Specifications | ||||
| Capacity | 64GB | 128GB | 256GB | 512GB |
| NAND | 2Xnm asynchronous MLC NAND | |||
| Number of NAND Packages | 8 | 16 | 16 | 16 |
| Number of Die per Package | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Sequential Read | 300MB/s | 400MB/s | 400MB/s | 400MB/s |
| Sequential Write | 200MB/s | 300MB/s | 400MB/s | 400MB/s |
| 4K Random Read | 46K IOPS | 58K IOPS | 48K IOPS | 48K IOPS |
| 4K Random Write | 47K IOPS | 72K IOPS | 85K IOPS | 85K IOPS |
| Street Price | N/A | $150 | $250 | $561 |
Read speeds seem to be the most affected by the use of asynchronous NAND. Vertex 4 offers sequential reads up to 550MB/s and 4K random reads of 90K IOPS for 128GB and up, whereas Agility 4 maxes out at 400MB/s and 58K IOPS. Write speeds have not taken as big a hit, although Vertex 4 is still noticeably faster by offering up to 475MB/s sequential writes. However, it should be kept in mind that these are figures provided by OCZ—we'll find out the real world performance when we get our review sample(s). At least in my eyes the figures for Agility 4 sound fairly conservative and rounded, as usually we see manufacturers listing differences of 5MB/s or even less, while for now all sequential numbers are even hundreds.
NewEgg does not sell the Agility 4 yet but I was able to find all models except for the 64GB from Amazon. The pricing of Agility 4 is indeed competitive. The 128GB Agility 4 is actually slightly more expensive because 128GB Vertex 4 currently sells for $140 in Amazon, but pricing may change as more stock comes in. Bigger capacities, on the other hand, offer nice savings over Vertex 4. The 256GB model is $40 cheaper and the 512GB model is $79 cheaper than the equivalent Vertex 4 models. Amazon currently has 128GB and 256GB models in stock in case you want to be an early adopter. The 512GB model is out of stock and the 64GB model is not even listed, so we're still waiting for availability.
We're already working on getting review samples from OCZ, so stay tuned for our review!
Source: OCZ Agility 4 product page
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
10 Comments
View All Comments
ajp_anton - Wednesday, May 30, 2012 - link
Why does the random read IOPS peak at 128GB and go down on both sides? I've seen this effect with many SSDs.ImSpartacus - Wednesday, May 30, 2012 - link
I don't know.Perhaps it's because it uses the most NAND packages with the fewest dies per package.
I bet the controller will utilize up to 16 NAND packages, so that setup provides the most bandwidth.
KZ0 - Wednesday, May 30, 2012 - link
Random read peaks at 128GB, whereas random write gets better on 256GB and 512GB. Yes, weird indeed. Seeing this on Agility makes more sense than on Vertex, though.jwilliams4200 - Wednesday, May 30, 2012 - link
Where is the Plextor M3P review that was promised for last week?lbeyak - Wednesday, May 30, 2012 - link
last week?!He promised me "in a week or so" on May 3rd!
Lol, I'm sure Kristian is trying his best everyone :)
Kristian Vättö - Wednesday, May 30, 2012 - link
I have all tests done and only need to write the final words page. The timing is usually not dependent on me as I can easily do a review in about 5 days without a problem, but the delay often comes when Anand checks the piece. He tends be quite busy. On top of that, it needs to be timed so that we don't have 5 other reviews or major news going out the same day.There is another review (ADATA XPG SX900) that also needs to go out before the M3P, and if everything goes as planned it will be up later this week. If there are no further delays, the M3P piece should be ready to go out next week, or so (sorry, had to add that!).
P.S. Scores are in the Bench in case you can't wait: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/603
KZ0 - Wednesday, May 30, 2012 - link
I appreciate the effort to span reviews a bit out. Just wanted to say that :)jontech - Wednesday, May 30, 2012 - link
Knew it was coming, with so many different models now, all from OCZ, makes building a rig more fun :)iwod - Wednesday, May 30, 2012 - link
It is not cheaper then anyone thing on the market and previous gen Marvell controller still beat them with price as well as performance....So... What's the point?
jb510 - Sunday, July 8, 2012 - link
I trust there is a review of this coming soon? Wondering how it compares to the Crucial M4. At the 512GB capacity right now, both are ~$400. I'm guessing the A4 beats the M4 by a little all around... but would prefer to see the test data from you all.